This article is part of our DraftKings NHL series.
It's only one game, so drawing all your assessments going forward from it would be rash, but we have seen the first contest of the Stanley Cup Finals, which is the first matchup between the Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers. Game 1 also saw the home Panthers shut out the Oilers, and that kind of result, well, it's hard to ignore. On the other hand, Sergei Bobrovsky had to make 32 saves in said shutout. That was enough to raise his save percentage to .915 in the playoffs, but do you see "Bob" blanking the Oilers again if he faces that many shots? I don't.
What I see are options for NHL DFS lineups for Monday's Game 2. The game will "start" at 8 p.m. ET, which is to say it will start like 20 minutes later but your DFS lineups will have to be in by the 8 p.m. ET hour. On DraftKings, you get a $50,000 salary for six players. Your Captain earns you 1.5 times the points, but they also bring in extra salary. Here's the Game 2 lineup I landed on.
CAPTAIN
Evan Bouchard, EDM at FLA ($12,000): Bouchard is third on the Oilers in playoff points…and also third overall in playoff points. That feels fitting. There is a clear hierarchy for Edmonton in terms of who it wants handling the puck: Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and then Bouchard. How often is he teed up to unleash his booming slap shot? Not just on the power play, but at even strength? That's why he has 27 points and 58 shots on net this postseason. Even in Game 1, Bouchard put four shots on goal. All that and his salary comes in below several Oilers and Panthers.
FLEX
Stuart Skinner, EDM at FLA ($9,400): One of these two goalies had a shutout in Game 1, but I'm going with the other goalie. The one who was previously pulled for Calvin Pickard. What's my reasoning? Well, as I noted earlier, Bobrovsky had to turn aside 32 shots, and they weren't all gimmes. Meanwhile, Skinner faced all of 17 shots. The Oilers have allowed a mere 24.6 shots on net per game in the playoffs, and have killed 94.1 percent of the penalties they've faced. Four times across a full game Skinner has faced fewer than 20 shots on target. In the nine games since getting pulled, he has a 1.84 GAA and a .916 save percentage. There's a good chance the Oilers even this series, and a good chance Skinner is not busy as they do so.
Carter Verhaeghe, FLA vs. EDM ($8,400): When you recommend a goalie in a single-game situation it can feel awkward to immediately recommend a guy from the other team who will try to score on him. Of course, in a single-game situation with an even matchup, you also need to try and balance your lineup. Verhaeghe opened the scoring in Game 1. He also recorded three shots on net and three blocked shots. He has 10 goals in the playoffs after scoring 34 this season. When Florida scores, Verhaeghe is often the one lighting the lamp. Betting on Skinner shutting out Florida would be an act of overconfidence.
Aleksander Barkov, FLA vs. EDM ($8,200): Barkov will be on the ice a lot because he usually is. The Finn has averaged 21:43 per game in ice time during the playoffs. He plays on the top power-play unit but he also won the Frank J. Selke Trophy because of his defensive skills. Paul Maurice will have him on the ice against McDavid as much as possible. Even with his defensive obligations, Barkov had two assists and four blocked shots in Game 1.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, EDM at FLA ($7,800): Nugent-Hopkins plays with McDavid on the first line and top power-play unit. He tallied 67 points this year, including 26 with the extra man. Nugent-Hopkins has 20 postseason points himself. In Game 1, he played over five minutes on the power play. While the Oilers did not beat Bobrovsky, that much power-play time will pay off.
Eetu Luostarinen, FLA vs. EDM ($4,000): My lineup is built on top players, with salaries that match, leaving me with a limited salary for my sixth spot. Fortunately, the thing about teams that make it to the Stanley Cup Final is that they tend to, you know, have a lot of talent and depth. The Panthers have a high-level third line, and Luostarinen has a point in each of his last three games. Not too shabby to round out a lineup like this.
